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Thank You.

It’s where those of us who received scholarships gather together with some writing professionals to write thank you notes to the people who made our scholarships possible.

I wanted to cry (very, very happy tears).

I am so incredibly lucky to be here.

My scholarship, the Mary Knox McNeill Scholarship, was named for and in memory of President Knox’s sister, who passed away in 2004.

I wish I could have met her.

Rev. Hurdle told me that we would have gotten along well.

I’d like to think so.

As I was writing my draft, I chuckled to myself that in a perfect world, I could just give each of these people a bear hug and sit down for a while and just talk. However, there is a time for all things, and tonight was the time to be formal.

After Fall Convo last week, President Knox came up to me and asked if I knew that my scholarship was named for her sister (I did, thankfully.) and then proceeded to tell me she’d be keeping an eye on me.

If that’s not motivation to flourish, I don’t know what is. 🙂

I told Baddest Mother Ever that I felt like royalty whenever she spoke to me.
I felt like I had arrived!

I have had the honor of hearing her speak multiple times, and I must say, my goal in life is to speak publicly with such ease and poise.

So, writing a thank you note to the president of your college is definitely intimidating.

This felt different than any other thank you note I had ever written.

It wasn’t an overly perky-thanksforthatcooltoyformybirthday-note.

I was honest.

I know that I’m insanely, unbelievably lucky to attend my dream college and not have to worry about keeping up a job to pay off loans. I have friends who are in that very situation, and it’s not better or worse, but different and I certainly wouldn’t be able to pull of the extra curriculars I’m doing. I never in a million years expected how dear to my heart Wesleyan would be come, or how cool it would be to walk where my mom, grandmother, and aunt (for a time) walked. I am a piece of living history, and those are big shoes to fill.

I know what it is like to lose people.

Thankfully, I have never lost a sister, but I know what it’s like to have people disrespect someone’s memory.

I’m going to strive to honor the Knox family in my actions while here at Wesleyan and beyond.

This is “Mary and Yorkie” by Susan Ricker Knox. It is one of the paintings in the galleries in Porter.

(I’m assuming the painting is of Mary Knox McNeill.)

I know that since I have lost MaeMae and Cap (my grandparents, in case you’re just tuning in) I have tried to both view myself as they did and live as they wanted me to live.

The last thing I ever want to do is make anyone ashamed that I received a scholarship in memory of such an amazing woman.

I’m hoping I will prove to be worthy. 🙂

Also, I love it here, so I’m totally considering getting a doctorate in psychology and coming back to teach–yes, I plan that far ahead. 😉